Closure for milk bottles and other containers



June 9, 1931. F. K. PLYMPTON 1 1,809,791

CLOSURE FOR MILK BOTTLES AND OTHER CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 12, 1927 Patented June 9, 1931 g UNITED STATES,

PATENT; orFrc FREDERIC K. PLYMPTON, OF SOUTHPOBT, CONNEGTICUT,'ASSIGNOR 'IO NAOMI PLYMPTON, E :AIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT CLOSURE FOR MILx'Bor'rLEs AND OTHERVCONTAINEIRS Application filed November 12, 1927. SerialNo. 232,803..

, The invention consists 1n a closureofdisktype having combined therewith in improved manner an extractor-device on the order of those of U. S. Letters Patent for improve.

ments inclosures for milk bottles and the like, to H. Moak, No. 1,361,394,:December 7,

December 14, 1920.

Extractor-devices such as those of the pat? of combination of a wire extractor-device ents just mentioned are made of wire, bent to produce a handle-portion in the form of a :5 loop or hail, the said loop, or bail providing for taking a firm grasp of the said handleportion between thumb and opposing finger of oneshanch or for engagement of, a convenient implement with the handle-portion. Such,extractor-device is combined with a disk by having the extremities of the legs of the loop orbailpassed through the material of the disk, with the saidlegs bent variously.

at the other side of the disk into different relations with the disk, and such extremities made fast by clinching. Practical consider.- ations having bearing in this connection are first that, unless the legs of the loop or bail are engaged with the'disk with suflicient security. to safeguard against the extractordevice becoming detached from the disk, such detaching will occur when a pull is given to the extractor-device in the endeavor to ex tract the disk from a container-mouth, leaving the disk still firmly seated in said mouth and the container still sealed. Experience i The tendency of the extractor-device to pull 1920; and to F. K. Plympt-on, No. 1,362,181,

away from the disk isincreased by the softenmg of the material of the disk after. havmg become wetted by the contents of the container, etc. This requirement for secure engagement is metin different Ways in the pat- 5 ents to which'reference has been: made. In both instances, however, in the case of the devices of, such patents, there occurs the drawback that portions of the wires pass exteriorly around the edge of the disk of a 0 closure, with resulting liability to leakage when the closure occupiesa container-mouth. Secondly, the mechanical devices employed a in effecting the requisite attachment in amachine for manufacturing extractor-closures 35 are somewhat complicated and expensive; they are more orless subject to wear; and repairs and replacements interfere with continuous use of themachine, 1n add1t1on to requiring highlyv skilled labor and being 7 expensive. I

The present invention simplifies the mode with a closure-disk. At the same time, it provides for making the said device fast to the said disk in a manner which enhances loop or bail with the said disk. It has other advantages, among which is the fact that it permits the employment of less complicated and expensive mechanical elements in the machine for manufacturing the closures.

' In the drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a face view of a closure having my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a back view of the said closure. Fig. 3 is an edge ,view thereof.

Having reference to the drawin.gs, The diskofthe closure is marked 1, and the extractor-device in its entirety is shown at 2. The said extractor-device is formed of a length of wire, which is prepared for ap- 100 plication to the disk by being bent into staple or U-shape form, as heretofore. Its loop or bail-portion is located, as heretofore, at one face of the disk, with its closed end toward the center of the disk, and its legs 21, 21, pass through holes at 3, 3, in the disk, nearer the periphery of the latter, to the other face of the disk. At the latter face the extremities 22, 22, are brought together and interlocked, preferably though not necessarily in all cases by being intertwisted, as at 4. By means of the intertwisting the said extremities are effectually fastened together. The portions of wire at both faces of the disk are embedded into the material of the disk so as to be practically flush with the said faces, to thereby eliminate projections which might cause trouble or inconvenience in stacking a number of closures together, and interfere with feeding the respeciiv e closures automatically from the stack in a capping machine. In the manufacture of the closure, the said embedding is occasioned after the intertwisting of the extremities, by subjecting the combined disk and extractordevice to pressure between opposing surfaces. By means of this pressure, also, the bends in the legs of the staple or U at the holes 3, 3, are made sharper. I

The intertwisting of the extremities 22, 22, of the legs 21, 21, of the extractor-device provides a positive connection of the two extremities with each other, whereby they are locked fast together and prevented from pulling away from the disk when strain is exerted upon the handle-portion of the device for the purpose of extracting the closure from its seat in the mouth of a bottle or jar, no matter how much the closure may stick to its seat. The two extremities, joined to each other as described. form a species of connecting strap or bridge across the back of the disk, so that lifting force is distributed across the entire space between the two legs 21, 21, of the extractor-device,

Preferably, the extremities 22, 22, of the legs 21, 21, are disposed so that they converge obliquely together at an angle, as in Figs. 1 and 2 at the under side of the disk, with the apex of such angle facing toward the center of the disk, thereby forming a transversely pointing V in a plane paralleling the said under side. lVhen the pull upon the handle-portion of the extractor-device takes effect, this angle straightens out, thereby taking the extremities 21, 21, out of the grooves into which they were impressed, so that the transverse connection (strap or bridge) takes bearing upon an ungrooved and uncut portion of the material of the disk. By having the said angle at the back of the disk, and the bail or loop at the face of the disk, both extending inwardly toward the center, the respective parts of the wire may be caused to become more effectually set or clinched against the respective faces of the disk (see Fig. 3) than when bends in different directions are formed at the two faces. In the latter case it is difiicult to bend the wire against itself at the opposite sides of the disk.

It is entirely feasible to cause the legs 21, 21, to pass through the disk quite close to the edge of the latter, but still entirely at the inner side of the edge, as in the drawings, without any break in the uniformity and continuity of the edge. This enables the extracting pull to take effect practically at the edge, without anything to cause the leakage which has occurred heretofore in the case of closures having the wire extended around the edge, outside the latter. 2

When the legs pass through the disk as stated, close to the edge, the bends of the wire rest upon the ledge constituting the seat within the container-mouth, after the insertion of the closure into the container-mouth, so that when such insertion is effected by means of the plunger of a capping machine, the pressure exerted by said plunger upon the 'closuremargin and the said bends over the said ledge in driving the closure down into contact with the ledge will cause the bail to spring'up from the surface of the closure to an extent sufiicient to facilitate grasping the same when extraction of the closure is desired.

The invention makes practicable the use of lighter and consequently less expensive wire than is required when the extremities of the legs of the extractor-device, after having been passed through the disk in one direction, have to be bent reversely and driven in the opposite direction through the disk, and then clinched as heretofore.

The intertwisting of the extremities 22, 22, can be effected by the employment of much simpler mechanism than the bending, driving. and clinching operations just mentioned. Hence, complicated and delicate machineparts, and delicate action, are capable of 1'10 being eliminated.

What is claimed as the invention is 1. A closure substantially as described comprising a closure-disk having combined therewith an extractor-device normally of U-shape providing a closed bail or loop handle lying against the top face of the disk, with the legs of the device passed through the material of the disk and joined positively together at the under face of the disk by. a V-shaped bridge extending across the latter face from one leg to the other, the bridge together with the juncture of the legs being pressed into the under face of the disk.

2. A closure of disk-type adapted for being stacked in a capping machine and fed edgewise from a stack, comprising a thin fiat elosure-disk having combined therewith an extractor device in the form of a U-shaped loop or bail extending transversely flatwise across 130 the top face of the disk, its legs passed through the thickness of the disk, continuations of such legs extending flatwise uponthe under face of the disk and interlocked with each other, and the loop or bail and the interlocked continuations sunk into the respective faces of the disk, producing a thin flat extractor- Iclosure having the parts of the extracton shielded at both sides of the disk. 7

3. A closure of disk-type adapted for being stacked in a capping machine and fed edgewise' from a stack, comprisinga thin flat closure-disk having combined therewith an extractor device in the form of a U-shaped loop or bail extending transversely flatwise across the top face'of the disk, its legs passed through the thickness of the disk, continuations of such legs extending fiatwise upon the under face of the disk and their extremities interv twisted, and the loop or bail and the intertwisted continuations sunk into the respective faces of the disk, producing a thin flat extractor-closure having the parts of the extractor shielded at both sides of the disk.

4. A closure substantially as described comprising a closure-disk having combined therewith an extractor device in the form of a U- shaped loop or bail extending transversely across the top face of the disk and lying flatwise thereon, its legs passed through the thickness of the disk,- continuations of such legs extending flatwise upon the under face of the disk interlocked by being intertwisted with each other, and the loop or bail and intertwisted 'continuations sunk into the respective faces of the disk, producing a thin flat extractor-closure having the parts of the extractor shielded at both sides of the disk.

5. An improved closure ofthe type comosed of a thin fiat closure-diskhaving comiiined therewith an extractor-device of U- shape providinga closed bail or loop handle bent over and lyin fiatwise against the top face of the diskwith the legs of the device passed through the material of the disk,"the

improvement consisting in that at the under side of the disk the extremities of the said legs converge obliquely together at an angle,

forming a transversely-pointing V-shaped connecting strap or bridge in a plane paralleling the said under side, as Well as in that the said legs are interengaged at the'transybrsely offset apex of said V to oin them together positively, with flat contact of the converging and interengaged portions of the transversely-pointing V with the under face of the disk permitting close stacking of the closure-disk With other similarly equipped ones and enabling unhampered feeding of I closure-disks individually from said stack by I the feed-slide of an automatic machine for capping bottles or other containers.

FREDERIG PLYMPTQN. 

